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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23976898">Independence</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vandereer/pseuds/Vandereer'>Vandereer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Flash fiction prompts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, Drabble, Flash Fiction, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:47:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>367</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23976898</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vandereer/pseuds/Vandereer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Reiju has an introspective moment about freedom.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Vinsmoke Judge &amp; Vinsmoke Reiju</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Flash fiction prompts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728745</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Independence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <span>To her subjects, she was the strong, in</span>
  <span>dependent eldest child of the proud Vinsmoke lineage. In a lot of ways they were right, but in truth, Reiju just felt like a puppet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>S</span>
  <span>he could constantly feel the invisible threads connecting her to her father Judge, winding their way down the stone corridors of Germa Kingdom and tugging whenever she moved too fast or too far. It was as if she couldn't move too far away or the threads would pull taut, couldn’t flout what freedoms she had too much, or they would surround and strangle her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Judge’s voice crackled in her ear-piece. “Reiju. Meeting. Now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, on my way.” Reiju answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her feet moved automatically as she made her way to the war room. Whether she would be able to stop herself and go somewhere else - she didn’t know. She had never tried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her thoughts wandered far back as she passed the door to the dungeon cells, back to her childhood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t help but ask herself; had she freed Sanji from his cell all those years ago, only because Judge hadn’t specifically told her not to?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Judge had given her direct orders to leave him in that cell… She had a brief flash of a young man with his hair grown over his face in the shape of an iron helmet, bony and filthy from living in a basement cellar. A blind, pale creature clutching worn books in the dark.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t bear the thought of it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No, she couldn’t really call herself independent. She wasn’t even sure if she was capable of independent thought. In some ways it was worse than being a puppet, even if the marionette’s limbs were being controlled, they could still call their thoughts their own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She won</span>
  <span>dered… what would happen one day if the puppetmaster was no more? Would she fall limp and lifeless to the ground, never to move again? Or maybe find out that she could move autonomously after all?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reiju stepped into the war room, staring at where the puppetmaster sat on his throne.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A tiny smile curved her lips as she received her orders.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Some day, father, I’m going to find out.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I take CC.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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